Cleaning/Mending. I scraped and picked the remaining vinyl stretchy bits off the boot uppers to the extent possible with a wire brush and toothbrush and thoroughly cleaned and sandpapered the smooth surfaces. I sewed up a rip in the rear seam of the upper too.

Masking. I taped the boot soles and zippers with painters' tape and masked my calves with paper towel because I had to wear the boots during painting to reduce paint-cracking later.

Base coat. While wearing the boots, I applied two coats of gesso as a primer using my fingers to avoid brush marks. I wore rubber gloves for this. Although gesso is more brittle than regular acrylic paint, I wanted super coverage and adhesion on the stretchy black substrate, especially on the fleece-like areas where the adhesive wouldn't come off.

Painting. I applied coloured acrylic paint with rubber-gloved fingers. I wanted colour variation so one boot is noticeably more greenish than the other. For a clean line, I hand-brushed areas along the zipper and sole.

Finishing. I applied a coat of clear acrylic for protection and added shine.

Decoration. I hot-glued a fabric stripe down the front of the boots and added daisy zipper pulls that I bought at Dressew fabric shop for $3.00. I had to buy a glue-gun for this step.

DONE. But these can only be worn in fine weather. Do I care? NON!

This project took a couple of days with all the fiddly scraping, masking, and multiple coats of paint (while I was wearing the boots), but the time was worth it. Depending on how gingerly I wear these (not very I imagine) these boots will last a little longer, and when they start to deteriorate more, I'll love going crazy with more paint AND safety pins. The good thing about working on something I would otherwise junk is there is no risk of screw-up; that's true freedom.

I owe this project's success to Pao at Project Minima where I first learnt about shoe-painting. Hugs to you, Pao and all the other bloggers I have seen since in their upcycled footwear.

AND -

Over at blog taibhsearachd (Gaelic for second sight), Janet of Yellowknife in the Yukon was needing an emergency yellow skirt fix so she upcycled a big sundress into her own version of it.

Gasp.......that is one very cool transformation. You are one clever lady and after reading the how to list.....very patience to.OK off to the world of the travelling yellow ballon skirt.....around the world in 80 days????? Hmmm the book rights!!!!!!Love V

Those boots will have everybody gawkin'! Wow, you continue to amaze me with your marvelous DIY ideas, and your skill and discipline in bringing them to fruition. I can barely get to the "ideas" stage ;)

The Yellow Skirt is on its way to me at this moment, so I've been plotting what to do with it...

What a brilliant refashion/save of the boots, Melanie, they look incredible!I love Amber's Yellow Skirt pics so much, Janet looks lovely too, and I am so looking forward to seeing what Shelley does with it. It's doing its Freaky Tour of Canada before heading over to MEEEEEE! xxxx

isn't acrylic paint just the best? So versatile - and these boots just look amazing! what a makeover. Love the choice of colour... I've seen the hen, one of the best photoshoot props I've ever seen on a blog. xxxx

My gourd, I'm such a douche-canoe. SO MANY times I have ditched shoes because I didn't like the colour and here's Sacramento spraying hers fluoro and you making these INCREDIBLE boots and NOW I WANT TO MAKE ALL TEH FABULOUS FOOTWEAR TOO!!! You're clever and patient and marvellous and beautiful.